Three Sisters
by drox
Summary: Short and surreal EighthDoctor regeneration fic. With Time War references and generous portions of angst. Because Eight gives great angst. Rated for violence and... are death and regeneration 'adult themes' ? I don't know either.
1. death

Disclaimer: The Doctor belongs to the BBC. The three sisters belong to Paul Cornell, IIRC. None of them belong to me.

-  
Three Sisters  
chapter one: death  
-

"I suppose I should have expected you'd be here."

"I suppose you should have," Death replied.

He considered the state of his legs. "I'm afraid you're going to have to lead the dance this time."

"I'm not going to dance with you."

He tilted his head quizzically. It was about all the movement he could manage.

"You cheated me, so I'm not going to dance with you," she sniffed. Death crossed her arms and turned her back to him. "Oh, I'm used to you cheating me. You and all your kind." She paced the floor. "We dance, on occasion, and then you leave again. Swanning off with my sisters. I could be jealous, I suppose, but there wouldn't be much point. You'll be mine eventually."

He nodded weakly. "Everyone will be."

"Not everyone. All those Gallifreyans, all those Daleks... they should have been _mine_, and you _took_ them from me. They burned before I could claim them."

The ghost of a smile. "It worked, then."

"Yes. They paid for their arrogance, and now it's your turn. Instead of me, you get to dance with my sister."

A white light surged in. "Oh no-"

"Oh_ yes_. Pain, this is the Doctor. I believe you've met..."


	2. pain

-  
Three Sisters  
chapter two:pain  
-

"I know you're busy, with the War and all, but I want you to take _special care _with this one."

"Oh?" Pain's gaze drifted over the Doctor. "Why is that? Did the big bad Time Lord hurt ickle sister's feelings?"

"That's none of your business!"

"Hurting is always my business."

"Then get on with it! And be thorough. I want him to _beg_ for me."

"When he does, will you oblige him?"

"I haven't decided."

Pain knelt down and looked into the Doctor's eyes as he squinted against her brightness. "No hurry." She stroked his cheek, causing him to cry out. "This may take a while."

---

It took a while. He loved life and would not surrender it easily, but Pain didn't mind. It didn't have to be easy. She toyed with him endlessly, prolonging the dance, and Death watched them both, delighted. The Doctor had known Pain before, so intimately and on so many occasions, that he really thought he might resist her advances. But she knew things he didn't know. Knew his weaknesses. Knew the things he'd forced himself to forget.

She made him remember.

After that, it was almost too easy.


	3. time

-  
Three Sisters  
chapter three:time  
-

When they were finished with him, the younger sisters left him alone in the void. They'd lost interest. The War had given them so much to do and they were eager to get started. Only their elder sister remained to hear the Doctor's anguished pleas. Time made herself just corporeal enough that he could see her, see the damage that the Time War had inflicted.

"Mercy for your Champion, my Lady?"

"That mercy is not mine to grant." Her rainbow-hued eyes regarded him sadly. His flowing hair and delicate features looked out of place in the battle-scarred armour he wore. So heavy and crude. And it hadn't provided much protection anyway. Time noted with some satisfaction that the weapon ports were pristine, unmarked by use. He hadn't fired a single round. "Still true to yourself, despite all that's happened," she observed.

"True to _you_, my Lady."

"Indeed. I wish I could reward you for your loyal service, but I have nothing to offer you but my gratitude. For you see I too have suffered losses. My warriors- No, not warriors, they were never very good warriors..." She paused, frowning. "My _guardians_ are all gone. All but you, Last of the Time Lords."

"I should be with them! That was the plan!"

"Plans go awry."

"I shouldn't have lived! Release me!" he sobbed.

"Then who would be my Champion?"

He had no answer.

"Blame me for your predicament, Time Lord. Curse my name. Hate me, even. For it was my own intervention that kept you from joining your people as they burned," Time whispered in his ear. "My sisters demanded a great price, but I paid it gladly. I thought I owed that much to my Champion."

He still had no answer.

"I had another reason too," she confided. "A _selfish_ reason. I _need _my Champion. Especially now." She extended an insubstantial hand to him. "Dance with me, Time Lord." It was more than a plea, but less than a command.

He looked again at the twisted metal that encased his ruined legs. His voice was a whisper. "How, my Lady?"

"I still have _some_ power here. Take my hand."

He reached for her hand, and as they touched he became as light and insubstantial as she was. He rose, ghostlike, leaving his armour, his weapons, even his flesh behind. And they danced.


End file.
